The following disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for previewing edited video.
A video editing application allows a user to generate an output video sequence from various video sources. A video camera can capture and encode video information in various video formats (e.g., MPEG, AVI, or DV) that can be used as video sources. A user can make edits to create a video sequence composed of desired portions of the video sources and to add effects thereto.
Some video editing applications include features allowing users to preview an output video sequence. A user may want to experiment with different types of effects, or place effects at different positions along a timeline. A user may also want to check actual colors on an NTSC display device. By using the preview feature, a temporary output video sequence can be played back immediately after generating the video sequence. But, the processing required for rendering multiple video formats and/or complex edits in substantially real time can lead to playback with unintentionally dropped frames or a lowered video quality.
Another feature that is available in some video editing applications allows rendering an output video sequence for persistent storage. In rendering, the native formats are transformed to a single output format. The rendered video can be persistently stored as a file. However, persistent rendering can require significantly more time than previewing such that repeated re-rendering is impractical during video editing.